Chapter 243 The Thirteen Lines of Tao (6,000-word two-in-one chapter)
In this way, Yangzhou governor Liu Yao was placed under house arrest in Jinling City by the pottery merchants before he could take office.
The governor Liu's life was quite comfortable. The pottery merchant provided him with good food and drink every day, and he also had many warblers and swallows hanging around him, so that the governor Liu lived a happy life like a fairy in Jinling City.
This is the lifelong dream of many men, but the problem is that Liu Yao doesn't know why, but he just feels aggrieved.
The seal of the Yangzhou governor became a talisman that the pottery merchants borrowed from time to time, and they used it from Liu Yao from time to time for fun.
The pottery merchant was a very honest man. He would bring at least two bags of fruit to Liu Yao every time, which was counted as a borrowing fee. Moreover, once the building was completed, it would be returned immediately, never overnight.
As promised, if you borrow something, you must repay it, and it is not difficult to borrow again.
A gentleman is very particular about how he handles affairs.
From this period onwards, all government orders in Yangzhou came from the hands of pottery merchants and were distributed to various counties.
The first decree was that in addition to Gan Ning, Zhou Tai, and Jiang Qin, more than 20 water bandits led the old troops to enter various counties under Wu County and stationed themselves there.
Although Sheng Xian, the prefect of Wu County, was extremely angry about this matter, he was afraid that the pottery merchant had defeated Yuan Shu. Secondly, every thing the pottery merchant did was stamped with the seal and ribbon of Liu Yao, the governor of Yangzhou. It can be said that
That's a fair statement.
Sheng Xian was unreasonable in any way. He dared not speak out when he was angry, so he could only endure it.
Next, the pottery merchant sent a letter of denunciation to Yuan Shu in the name of the governor of Yangzhou, blaming Yuan Shu for his evil intentions in occupying Jiujiang County and Lujiang County. He also sent a letter to Wang Lang of Kuaiji County, Zhuge Xuan of Yuzhang County, and Sheng of Wu County.
Xian and others issued an edict to the governor, ordering them to prepare for war, draw a clear line between the enemy and ourselves with Yuan Shu, and prepare to attack Yuan Shu at any time.
All of a sudden, the governors of various counties were in a state of confusion.
On the surface, he had to comply with the official document of the county governor, but secretly he did not dare to go too far in order to avoid offending Yuan Shu.
Even Wang Lang cursed the pottery merchant in his heart: This boy is really capable of being a monster.
And just when the pottery merchant kidnapped Liu Yao and caused turmoil in the entire Yangzhou, two people from the south and the north finally arrived at Jinling City.
The people from the north are Mi Zhen.
The person coming from the south is Zhang Zhongjing.
In fact, the two of them had entered the area of Danyang County a long time ago, just because the pottery merchants were engaged in a large-scale fierce battle with Yuan Shu. In order not to be affected by the war, the two of them could only wander around Danyang County, chatting and watching, waiting for the war to end.
.
It was not until Yuan Shu evacuated the borders of Danyang County and peace was restored in the hinterland of Yangzhou that the two men began to march towards Jinling City again.
Mi Zhen arrived at Jinling City first.
The girl came to Jinling City with an extremely heavy burden.
One is that she was appointed by Mi Zhu as a representative to discuss with pottery merchants how to sell salt to Western prefectures and counties.
Whether the business is profitable or not is just the first thing Mi Zhen has to do.
The second thing... Mi Zhu had a very serious talk with Mi Zhen in private, asking her to take advantage of the opportunity of cooperating with the pottery merchant to find a way to get close to the pottery merchant. It would be best if she could recommend herself as a pillow and win over the person named Tao.
If these two things couldn't be done, Mi Zhen wouldn't have to go back to the Mi family's old house.
Mi Zhen felt very depressed about this matter.
The first thing is easy to say, after all, it is a matter of family business, and I heard that Chen Deng was involved in it.
As long as Mi Zhen works hard, with the richness of the salt mines in Jinling City, and the many sales that Mi has accumulated in Han Dynasty over the years, it is not difficult to make money.
The key lies in the second thing.
He is a petite big girl, and the eldest brother has to force himself to take down a big man...
Mi Zhen really can't do such a shameless act.
She has been very polite since she was a child, and even if she says a few words to a man, she will blush easily, let alone recommending herself to a pillow.
…
When Mi Zhen arrived at the Jinling County Sheriff's Mansion, Tao Shang and Diao Chan were studying new things with their three children, Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, and Xiao Ying'er.
Today Zhuge Liang has invented a new type of toy and is showing it off to a few people.
The new toy has an axis and is composed of twenty-six small cubes that can rotate back and forth along the axis. Zhuge Liang wrote "A, B, C, D, E, Ji" on the six sides of the cube, back and forth.
Rotate, fiddle, and mess up, and have people rearrange the rotating combinations into place.
When the pottery merchant saw this thing, he was a little surprised.
Isn’t this a Rubik’s Cube?
This thing should have been invented by Westerners, right? Why did Zhuge Liang tinker with this thing in advance when a butterfly's wings flapped in the wind?
However, doubts remain doubts, but suddenly there was a Rubik's Cube to play with, and the pottery merchant found it quite interesting. Sima Yi and Xiao Ying'er were also very interested in this object. Two adults and three children were in the county magistrate's mansion in broad daylight.
Put together a Rubik's Cube.
"Only two sides were put together..." The potter was not very good at the Rubik's Cube in his previous life. After struggling for a long time, he could only put together two sides.
Xiaoying'er pouted and dryly raised the Rubik's Cube in her hand.
This stupid kid is even worse, he only managed one side.
Little Sima Yi was sweating profusely, waving his own palmetto fan and licking his lips passionately.
Looking at that appearance, he is becoming more and more like the Jigong posture mentioned in the legend.
"Teacher, look!" Little Sima Yi shook the palm fan vigorously, lifted the toy in his hand, and said with excitement: "Haha, I spelled out four sides, how about it?"
When he finished speaking, Zhuge Liang calmly raised the Rubik's Cube in his hand and aligned all six sides.
Little Sima Yi's smiling face suddenly froze.
He quietly looked at the Rubik's Cube in Zhuge Liang's hand with his cute eyes, then suddenly raised his head and said disdainfully: "Except for the second junior brother, I am the strongest..."
Before she finished speaking, Diao Chan raised the Rubik's Cube in her hand with a smile, and all six sides were aligned.
Sima Yi was completely exhausted.
Zhuge Liang didn't care, he didn't expect that even Diao Chan could play better than him.
The child's self-esteem is quite frustrated...
Little Sima Yi felt depressed and looked at the white feather fan in Zhuge Liang's hand eagerly, with an envious look in his eyes.
Although I don’t understand it very well, the exclusive extra points are really amazing... If I could get a fan like this, it wouldn’t be difficult to spell out the six sides.
Zhuge Liang ignored him and asked Tao Shang with a smile: "Teacher, what do you think of this thing?"
The potter fiddled with the Rubik's Cube in his hand and nodded appreciatively: "It is unique and talented. This thing can be widely promoted. Xiaoliang, does this thing have a name?"
Zhuge Liang shook his head gently and said with a smile: "Not yet, please ask the teacher to give the student a name."
The potter did not answer immediately, but turned to look at the thoughtful Sima Yi: "Yi'er, what do you think this thing should be called?"
Sima Yi's face fell, and he was obviously a little unhappy.
"Teacher... why do you call your second junior brother Xiaoliang, but you call me Yi'er... The students feel so disadvantaged."
Tao Shang sighed and said helplessly: "It's really not bad to be a teacher... You call me teacher, and I call you Xiaoyi. Do you think this title is reliable?"
Sima Yi couldn't hold it back all of a sudden.
Tao Shang saw that Sima Yi was looking awkward and lowered his head. He did not answer himself, but smiled helplessly: "Forget it, if you don't tell me, then I will do it myself... Xiaoliang, according to my teacher's opinion, the basic gameplay of this thing,
It’s all made up of pieces, how about we call it ‘Pinduoduo’?”
"hiss!"
In an instant, the four people in the hall, Diao Chan, Sima Yi, Zhuge Liang, and Xiao Ying'er, took a step back at the same time and took a breath of cold air.
The potter's heart sank involuntarily.
An ominous premonition came to his mind.
It seems like he is going to be despised by these women and children.
After a while...
"What's this name? Why is it so unpleasant?" Sima Yi turned to look at Zhuge Liang and whispered.
Zhuge Liang bit his lip and looked at the object in his hand distressedly with an expression of great reluctance... Apparently he felt that it was a waste for the teacher to give such a weird name to the baby bump he invented.
The potter's face turned a little dark.
Xiao Ying'er tugged on Diao Chan's sleeves and whispered: "Sister, Master Tao, why is he so uneducated?"
Diao Chan let out a long sigh, shook her head and said, "I don't know what happened to him today... Children, the name just now doesn't count, my wife will give this baby a new one."
Zhuge Liang turned around quickly and bowed respectfully to Diao Chan.
"Teacher, please correct me for the students."
The potter stood up and said unhappily: "What do you mean? What happened to Pinduoduo? Why can't we call it that?"
Diao Chan was afraid that Tao Shang would feel inferior, so she just comforted him gently and said: "Pinduoduo is good... but the name is too elegant and the children can't accept it. Let's add a few more to prepare for the candidates."
After saying that, Diao Chan tapped her chin gently with her finger, thought for a moment, and said: "The little box Xiaoliang made is neat and neat, looks simple, but is extremely difficult to manipulate. It's very spiritual. It's not as good as
Let’s call it Lingfang.”
The muscles on the potter's face suddenly stiffened.
A good Rubik's Cube, and finally it becomes a magic cube, it is not as good as spelling Duoduo.
As soon as Diao Chan finished speaking, she saw expressions of appreciation and admiration on the faces of the three children.
Sima Yi was the first to bow his hands in admiration and said: "If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first have a good name... The master's wife is so talented, it really makes Yi yearn for her magic formula! The name is so appropriate!"
Zhuge Liang also said respectfully: "With Master's wife's praise, this thing will be passed down for thousands of generations. Liang is very happy."
Xiao Ying'er also said happily: "My sister is still unparalleled in literary talent, and her knowledge is comparable to that of the most talented woman in the world, Mr. Cai."
The potter felt nauseated and wanted to vomit.
At this time, Pei Qian walked into the hall and couldn't help but smile when he saw a girl and three children laughing happily, while the pottery merchant looked sulky on the side.
Mr. Fujun has been galloping around for many years with few defeats, but in front of his lovers and students, he seems to be a different person, at least not as fierce and vicious as the one outside.
"Master Fu, Miss Mi Zhen of Mi Mansion, on behalf of the Mi family in Pengcheng, came to pay a visit to Master Fu, and has entered Jinling City at this moment."
The pottery merchant was stunned when he heard this, waved to Pei Qian, took the greeting card from Pei Qian, opened it and looked at it carefully.
After reading it, the pottery merchant immediately ordered: "Miss Mi is not an outsider. Diao Chan and I have a few acquaintances with her. Later, you will send someone to bring her directly. Diao Chan and I will entertain her here."
.”
"No!" Pei Qian accepted the order and turned around to handle the matter according to the potter's request.
Diao Chan hesitated and said: "Miss Mi represents her brother Mi Fang. She has business to discuss with you. It seems a little inconvenient for me to be here."
Tao Shang shook his head and said: "If Mi Zhu came here in person, I would treat him with public etiquette. But after all, Mi Zhen is just a boudoir woman who is less than ten years old. It is inappropriate to treat him with public etiquette. That day I
During the ceremony, we sat together and discussed each other's shortcomings. We were old acquaintances. This time we simply treated each other as friends. In this way, we might have some influence on the business between the Mi family and me.
beneficial effects.”
Diao Chan heard what the potter said made sense, nodded slightly, and stopped evading.
The three children and Diao Chan stayed together.
When she was young, Mi Zhen walked into the hall under the leadership of Pei Qian. The Tao merchant ordered people to serve fruit and honey juice to greet Mi Zhen, and then introduced Mi Zhen one by one.
Mi Zhen naturally knew Diao Chan, and Mi Zhen had also heard about the two children of the Sima family and the Zhuge family.
Seeing Tao Shang entertaining her in such a manner, Mi Zhen seemed a little embarrassed.
Why does it look a bit like a family gathering?
She saluted Yingying, the pottery merchant, and said rather shyly: "Master Taiping entertains Zhen'er with such...such a family banquet, which really makes Zhen'er feel deeply guilty and frightened."
The potter glanced at Mi Zhen's big breasts without leaving any trace...
There are still so many mountains and mountains, which are breathtakingly big.
"Miss Mi, there's no need to be polite. Although you are representing your brother this time and have official business, Tao and the girl are old friends, and Diao Chan and the girl are also old acquaintances. There is no need for us to use that kind of official situation.
Right? It’s easier for a girl to talk in such an occasion."
After hearing this, Mi Zhen seemed to feel slightly uneasy.
"Mr. Taiping, you want to establish a business in Jinling City to cooperate with me, the Mi family. Zhen'er is here to discuss this matter with the young master as the representative of the Mi family... I wonder how the young master thinks this business should be used for cooperation?"
The pottery merchant gently tapped the table with his fingers and said: "The company I plan to set up is called Thirteen Lines. The salt business is just one of them. There may be more in the future. Miss Mi will join it on behalf of the Mi family. The two of us will participate in it."
The business is jointly run by the family... Although the owner of the business is me, Tao, I have a lot of government affairs on weekdays, so I probably don’t have time to worry about this matter in my daily life. I thought about it and decided to let Diao Chan cooperate with Mi on my behalf. "
Diao Chan had been listening quietly on the side, and was suddenly startled when she heard this.
Before Diao Chan could say anything, the pottery merchant continued: "First of all, Miss Diao Chan and I have a marriage contract, and we can be considered as members of my Tao family. Secondly, you are both from the girl's family, so we can cooperate and communicate with each other on weekdays."
Conveniently, the three women are very careful with their budgets. When it comes to business, I control the overall direction, and you manage the progress of daily expenses. You must be more careful than me. Brother Ling and I have the same opinion on this point."
After hearing this, Mi Zhen's beautiful eyes flickered, she glanced at Diao Chan gently, and asked: "This so-called Thirteen Lines, when Zhen'er left Pengcheng, she heard her brother mention it... So, may I ask?
Fujun, for the salt business of the Thirteenth Industry, Fujun provides the dry salt, and I, Mi, provide the external sales channel, is that right?"
The pottery merchant smiled: "That's roughly what it means. But according to Tao, Mi has been in business for more than a hundred years, dealing in rice grains, silk cloth, and ceramic utensils. It's just that the salt business has never been involved, but I don't know if your channels can
Can it be sold as salt?”
Under the eager gaze of the pottery merchant, Mi Zhen's face turned slightly red: "Look at what the young master said, there is no wealthy businessman in the world who is determined to sell only a few things. As long as there is a surplus, my Mi family can do anything."
Can be sold."
The pottery merchant suddenly realized what he said.
"Then as Miss Mi said, if she sells shit to make money, her family's business will also start buying shit balls from various counties in Xuzhou, right?"
Mi Zhen's face turned red as if she had been force-fed an aphrodisiac.
The truth is such a truth, but why does it sound so unpleasant when it is said by this Prince Taiping?
The pottery merchant tapped the table gently with his fingers and asked Mi Zhen: "One more thing, according to the girl's opinion, how much should each of our families get from the sale of salt?"
Mi Zhen came back to her senses, tapped her chin gently with her finger, and thought for a while before saying: "In my opinion, if the salt business is profitable, the prince of the house will get six, and the Mi family will get four. It is very fair, I don't know.
What do you think, Mr. Fu?"
Before the pottery merchant could speak, Diao Chan on the other side suddenly spoke.
"no!"
But Diao Chan stood up, her gentle and charming face changed into a serious and business-like one.
But he saw that she gave a gentle salute to the pottery merchant first and said: "Zi Du, Chan'er just said something that was too much. You will hold him accountable later. But since you trust Chan'er and allow me to manage affairs with Miss Mi, then these people
Regarding the matter, Chan'er couldn't help but discuss it carefully with Miss Mi."
The pottery merchant was a little stunned when he saw this: "Ah, it's okay...it's okay. You two will be responsible for the specific affairs in the future, so let's talk about it."
Diao Chan smiled softly at him, then turned around and looked at Mi Zhen with a straight face, saying: "Diao Chan is not like Zhen'er, who comes from a wealthy merchant family and is well versed in business, but the cooperation between the two families and their business dealings are nothing more than
It's just about seeking profit from the capital. If we talk about the 'origin' in today's business, all the salt produced is produced by Zidu, and the salt produced by Zhen'er's sister's family is nothing more than the sales channels of the past. Without these droughts
Salt, your Mi family also sells other things. According to this calculation, Danyang dry salt passing through the Mi family is nothing more than a pass. There is no need to purchase the goods in advance and no cost investment, but it is divided into 40%. Diao Chan feels that there is
Unfair.”
Tao Shang opened his eyes wide in astonishment and looked at Diao Chan in disbelief.
The pottery merchant understood what Diao Chan said.
But I didn't expect that she, Wang Yun's adopted daughter, could have such insights and ideas.
Mi Zhen was not frightened by Diao Chan. Instead, she lost her weak and shy attitude just now and began to transform.
Meet your opponent in chess!
Mi Zhen stood up and looked at Diao Chan without fear, as if she was soft but strong: "What my sister said is biased. In terms of cost investment, although my Mi family does not produce salt, my sister forgot to do the calculation."
, since the channel belongs to my Mi family, transportation between the north and the south, carriages, manpower, labor, or other chores such as servants selling outside my Mi family's own shop are all costs. Calculated in this way, 40 to 60 points are combined.
It does not count as taking advantage of Jinling City, but in fact it is the Mi family who respects Mr. Tao and takes the initiative to cut off his flesh."
Diao Chan was not polite and retorted: "If my sister wants to calculate the cost with me, then we will calculate the cost carefully today. The salt in Jinling City is official salt. Digging wells to collect it is also a cost. Thirteen rows are salt."
Du's newly built trading company. Although he has an official status, the salt mine is not Tao's private property. Although the cost of producing salt in the county is low, it still requires taxes. As the county governor, Zidu will not line his own pockets.
If you want to be more clear, it’s just that the Thirteenth Line takes salt from the salt mine and keeps accounts. I wonder if my sister has calculated these costs?"
Mi Zhen sighed: "If the elder sister infers this, then the younger sister will give in one more step, Qi San is the most."
Diao Chan raised her eyebrows: "Qi San? Okay, then I want to ask my sister again, if the salt is shipped to other states, and the salt money cannot be recovered due to difficulties in the Mi family's channels, who should bear the shortfall in the account?"
"
Mi Zhen said unceremoniously: "Of course he is Mr. Taiping."
"I absolutely agree with what my sister said..."
"..."
Seeing the two women bickering in the hall, the potter couldn't help but grin.
You have to be a woman who knows how to deal with it. It’s like bargaining for something, calculating every move carefully.
The two beauties who were gentle and elegant just now, in the blink of an eye, have transformed into invincible aunts bargaining at the vegetable market, arguing with each other, and neither one is convinced by the other.
Sima Yi stuck out his tongue and whispered to Zhuge Liang beside him: "Women are so scary. It's the first time I've seen a master's wife be so fierce... And that big-breasted aunt is also so serious."
Zhuge Liang swayed his white feather fan, which made him appear calm and calm.
He turned to look at Xiaoying'er and said softly: "When you grow up, don't become as noisy as the two of them."
Xiaoying'er nodded in understanding.
After a while, the two women finally negotiated all the details one by one and settled on the details and regulations of the division. The other four people in the room were stunned.
Diao Chan turned to look at the pottery merchant and smiled coquettishly: "Zi Du, do you agree with what sister Zhen'er and I just discussed?"
Mi Zhen also returned to her usual shy state: "If Mr. Fu thinks there is any problem... you can raise it and Zhen'er will discuss it with you."
"Ah?" The pottery merchant blinked, nodded blankly, and came to his senses: "There's nothing wrong! You guys have talked about it very thoroughly, and everything is perfect. I really can't find any flaws... Well,
I'll go back and draw up a written charter, and I'll show it to Zhang Zhao and the others. If there are no major omissions, we can make it final."
Mi Zhen and Diao Chan both smiled after hearing this.
But Diao Chan suddenly turned her head, looked at Mi Zhu, and chuckled: "Sister, are you planning to stay in Jinling City forever when you come this time?"
Mi Zhen nodded shyly and said, "I can't leave for a while."
"That's great. I'll take you around Jinling City later. There is a cloth shop. The brocade they sell is very soft and has excellent texture. It feels similar to Shu brocade. Let's go there together later and choose carefully."
Mi Zhen's face was filled with a smile: "Really? I have to thank my sister for that. I came in a hurry this time, and I didn't bring much clothing with me on weekdays. There were only three carriages..."
The two people who were at loggerheads just now suddenly became extremely good friends again.
The pottery merchant rubbed his head, feeling ashamed.